THERE was a palpable sense of occasion at the opera house of the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday night when the Mark Morris Dance Group returned to its old stomping ground for the first time since it opened its own splendid home almost opposite the Academy itself, in September.

But occasions are as occasions do – and this occasion did superbly.

Morris, at 45 not quite the dance wunderkind of yesteryear, is now solidly ensconced in the top echelon of the dance establishment. Happily, success has not eroded his sense of daring, cheek, wonderment and, on the right occasion, genius.

The program was brilliantly chosen and revealed Morris’ vivid and deliciously enjoyable choreography at its subtlest, and his virtuosic and individualist dancers at their most softly dazzling.

After a delightfully folksy solo for David Leventhal that Morris had set to three traditional Rumanian songs, we moved to more austere climes, with 16th-century Claudio Monteverdi’s “I Don’t Want Love,” a dance with passion lurking beneath its fluent, fluid choreography.

Following a fine account of one of Morris’ signature ballets, the resonant “Grand Duo,” to music by Lou Harrison, we had the evening’s New York premiere, “V.”

Set to Schumann’s E Flat Quintet, the title “V” can, following the music, can be read as the Roman figure for five, or as a letter in the alphabet, for V-formations abound in the choreography.

Or perhaps it’s a V for victory, which many in London assumed when the piece – which is dedicated to New York City – premiered in mid-October.

As imaginative and as inventive as the Schumann music it reflects and echoes, its very humanity suggests an indomitability of spirit that cannot be mistaken.